Collapsible container



May 19, 1Q70 J. pfg'eosn'nrr AL j 3,512,823 cOLLAPIBLE conm'mnn FiledMay 6, 1968 so 3012 20 40 I8 -50 INVENTORS. JULIAN c. D'ESPOSITO,RICHARD e. TAUS Q60. ATTORNEY.

3,512,823 COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Julian C. DEsposito, Wilmette, andRichard G. Taus,

Berwyn, Ill., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago,11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 6, 1968, Ser. No. 726,876 Int.Cl. B65d /02 US. Cl. 22937 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acollapsible container is formed from a blank of paperboard and hasopposed pairs of hingedly interconnected first and second sidewallswhich have first and second closure flaps hinged respectively thereto.The container is erected in the usual manner to form a tubularstructure. The inner surface of each of the first closure flaps and theouter surface of each of the second closure flaps is covered withadhesive coating, the adhesive being of the self-sticking type so that asurface coated therewith will adhere only to another similarly coatedsurface. When the container is collapsed, in order to prevent adherenceof adhesively coated surfaces to one another, each of the flaps isfolded against the sidewall to which it is hinged so that the adhesivelycoated surfaces will contact only the uncoated surfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to a collapsible container formed from a unitary blank ofpaperboard and, more particularly, to a collapsible, self-sealingcontainer having adhesively coated closure flaps, the flaps being foldedin such a manner as to prevent undesirable adhering of coated surfacesto one another when the container is in collapsed condition.

The prior art Heretofore, various attempts have been made to form acontainer from a blank of paperboard, or the like, with adhesive appliedby the manufacturer of the container to the closure flaps thereof sothat the container could be readily sealed by the user withoutnecessitating any further application of adhesive and, at the same time,preventing adherence of various surfaces of the container to one anotherwhen the container is in a collapsed condition. The problem of applyingself-sticking adhesive to the closure flaps of a container so that anerected and closed container be provided with readily scalable surfacesin contact with one another, yet the surfaces be free from one anotherwhen the container is in a collapsed form, has been somewhat reduced bya patent to Kelsall, No. 2,874,891 and a patent to Greene, No.3,322,323. Both patents teach application of the adhesive to specifiedcontrolled areas of the closure flaps.

However, the application of adhesive to controlled areas of the flaps istime-consuming and requires precise identification of the flap areaswhere the adhesive is tobe applied so that the teachings of the abovepatents are not suitable for todays mass production techniques. Further,when the shape of the container is varied, the areas to which adhesiveis applied, must likewise be varied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes thedisadvantages of the prior art and provides a paperboard containerhaving the necessary interior or exterior surfaces of the closure flapscoated with self-sticking adhesive so that an erected container can bereadily sealed, but, at the same time,

United States Patent 0 M Patented May 19, 1970 preventing sticking ofthe surfaces of the container when the container is collapsed. Thisinvention utilizes the adhesive of the self-sticking type thecharacteristic of which being that a surface coated therewith willadhere only to another similarly coated surface. The prevention ofsticking of the container surfaces when the container is collapsed isaccomplished by folding the closure flaps of the container against thewalls to which the flaps are hinged so that, when the container iscollapsed, the surfaces of the flaps having adhesive applied thereto,will engage only those surfaces which are free of adhesive.

DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container of the presentinvention representing the first embodiment thereof;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the container of FIG. 1 when thecontainer is in a collapsed condition;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the container representingthe second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing portions of the flaps of containerillustrated in FIG. 3 when the flaps are being folded.

SPECIFICATION While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in manydifferent forms, there are shown in the drawing and will herein bedescribed in detail, embodiments of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit theinvention to the embodiments illustrated.

Referring now to the drawing, more specifically to FIG. 1, there isshown a container, generally designated 10, formed from a unitary,suitably cut and scored blank of foldable paperboard, or the like. Thecontainer is shown in the erected position and has opposed pairs offirst sidewalls 12 and 14 and second sidewalls 16 and 18. A narrow panel20 is hinged to the free edge of the first sidewall 12 along a hingeline 22 and is placed in an overlying relationship to the marginal areaalong the free edge of the second sidewall 18. The panel 20 is securedby any suitable means to the marginal area of the wall 18 to provide amanufacturers joint, as the same is known in the art of containermanufacturing the first sidewall .12 is hinged to the second sidewall 16along a hinge line 24, while the second sidewall 16 is hinged to thefirst sidewall 14 along a hinge line 26. Similarly, the wall 14 ishinged to the wall 18 along a hinge line 28.

First closure fiaps and 32 are hinged to the top end edges of first sidewalls 12 and 14, respectively, along the respective hinge lines 34 and36. Second closure flaps 38 and 40 are hinged to the top end edges ofsecond sidewalls 16 and 18, respectively, along the respective hingelines 42 and 44.

While the bottom closure flaps are not shown on the containersillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, it is to be understood that flaps similarto those heretofore described are also hinged to the bottom end edges ofthe first and second sidewalls of the containers.

An adhesive of the self-sticking type, is applied to the inner surfacesof the first closure flaps 30 and 32 and to the outer surfaces of thesecond closure flaps 38 and 40.

In collapsing the container 10, all closure flaps may be folded inwardlyagainst the interior surfaces of the respective walls to which the flapsare hinged. As best seen in FIG. 2, the surfaces of the flaps coatedwith the adhesive 50 will engage those surfaces of the flaps which arenot coated with adhesive.

The container shown in FIG. 3 is identical to the container of FIG. 1,same numerals being used to designate various individual elements ofboth containers. In collapsing the container of FIG. 3, first closureflaps 30 and 32 may be folded inwardly against the interior surfaces offirst sidewalls 12 and 14, respectively. The second closure flaps 38 and40, having adhesive 50 applied to the outer surfaces thereof, may befolded outwardly against the exterior surfaces of second sidewalls 16and 18. The orientation of the folded closure flaps is best illustratedin FIG. 4.

It can be seen that by folding the first closure flaps inwardly and thesecond closure flaps outwardly each of the adhesively coated surfaces ofthe flaps will engage an uncoated surface of the respective wall of thecontainer. Since the adhesive 50 has a characteristic whereby it canadhere only to a similarly coated surface, by folding the closure flapsin the manner indicated in FIG. 4, adherence of coated surfaces will beprevented.

The containers illustrated herein, when collapsed, can be stacked on topof one another without any danger that adhesively coated surfaces of twoor more containers will come into contact with one another causing thecontainers to adhere to one another.

While in the exemplary embodiments illustrated the closure flaps of thecontainer were folded after the container had been erected and after themanufacturers joint, formed by securing panel 20 to the sidewall 18,

has been made, folding of the flaps could be accom- I plished before themanufacturers joint is made without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention.

Further, it may not be necessary to coat the substantially entire inneror outer surfaces of respective flaps. Thus, it may be sufficient tocoat at least half of the outer surface of each of the second closureflaps 38 and 40' and to coat only those portions of the inner surfacesof first closure flaps and 32 which will engage the coated outersurfaces of flaps 38 and 40 when the container is closed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a collapsible container, formed from a unitary blank of foldablepaperboard, having opposed pairs of first and second sidewalls hingedlyinterconnected to form a tubular structure open at the ends,self-sealing means for closing each of said open ends, comprising:

(a) a pair of first closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edgesof said first sidewalls and having adhesive coatings on substantiallyentire inner surfaces thereof;

(b) a pair of second closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edgesof said second sidewalls and having adhesive coatings on substantiallyentire outer surfaces thereof;

(0) said adhesive coatings being of the self-adhering type which willadhere only to other similarly coated surfaces;

((1) each closure flap being folded against a side wall to which saidclosure flap is hinged thereby preventing engagement between coatedsurfaces of any two closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

2. A collapsible container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of saidfirst side walls is longer than each of said second side walls.

3. A collapsible container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of saidfirst closure flaps is folded inwardly against a first sidewall to whichsaid first closure flap is hinged, and each of said second closure flapsis folded outwardly against a second sidewall to which said secondclosure flap is hinged, thereby preventing engagement between coatedsurfaces of any two closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

4. A collapsible container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of saidclosure flaps is folded inwardly against a sidewall to which said flapis hinged thereby preventing engagement between coated surfaces of anytwo closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

5. In a collapsible container, formed from a unitary blank of foldablepaperboard, having opposed pairs of first and second side walls hingedlyinterconnected to form a tubular structure open at the ends,self-sealing means for closing each of said open ends, comprising:

(a) a pair of first closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edgesof said first sidewalls;

(b) a pair of second closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edgesof said second sidewalls and having adhesive coatings on at least halfof the outer surfaces thereof;

(c) portions of said first closure flaps overlapping said second closureflaps when the end of the container is closed;

(d) said portions having adhesive coatings on the inner surfaces thereofso arranged as to engage with and adhere to the substantially entirecoated outer surfaces of said second closure flaps when the end of thecontainer is closed;

(e) said adhesive coatings being of the self-adhering type which willadhere only to other similarly coated surfaces;

(f) each closure flap being folded against a wall to which said flap ishinged thereby preventing engagement between coated surfaces of any twoclosure flaps when the container is collapsed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,874,891 2/1959 Kelsall 229373,184,144 5/1965 Greene et al. 22937 3,248,039 4/1966 Locke 229373,291,368 12/1966 Hess 22937 3,301,462 1/1967 Starr 22937 3,394,6377/1968 Franklin 93-56 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

